Project: Selenium in early life to enhance neurodevelopment in unfavourable settings
| Acronym | SELENIUS |
| Duration | 04/04/2016 - 03/10/2019 |
| Project Topic | The proposal aims at evaluating the specific role of selenium (Se) in relation to other nutrients and trace elements in favouring brain and behavioural plasticity. The central hypothesis we will test is the role of oxidative stress and inflammation as key processes connecting diet, peripheral tissues and brain development. Two isocaloric diets differing in Se content will be given to pregnant and lactating female rats and to their offspring till adulthood. The role of Se in supporting brain and behaviour development will be also assessed in presence of lead (Pb) an environmental stressor able to affect cognitive development that is a concern in some European countries. The project has been organized in 5 work packages aimed at dissecting the effects of the different diets on behavioural development, cognitive functions, hippocampal synaptic plasticity and peripheral and central inflammation, using. ex vivo and in vitro approaches and transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics/lipidomic, measurement of oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways in different target organs. The offspring of the two sexes at different ages will be separately considered to emphasize sex-differences in neurodevelopment. The experimental studies will be reinforced by the observation obtained from an ongoing EU human birth cohort where exposure to Pb, micronutrients, lifestyle have been measured in children in association with assessment of cognitive, language and motor development. |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
The partners provided evidence for a detrimental effect of suboptimal selenium intake on behavioural development in infants and the adverse influence of early exposure to lead (Pb) in the absence of optimal selenium intake. The results also underlined the positive effects of dietary selenium on neuroinflammation and neuroplasticity. |
| Network | JPI HDHL |
| Call | NUTRICOG |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Istituto Superiore di Sanità | Partner | Italy |
| 3 | Università degli Studi di Milano | Partner | Italy |
| 4 | Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), University of Montpellier, | Partner | France |
| 5 | Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics | Partner | Germany |
| 6 | Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine | Partner | Poland |
| 7 | University of East Anglia | Partner | United Kingdom |